The Design and Performance of a High Work Research Turbine

This paper describes the design and performance of a high work single-stage research turbine with a pressure ratio of 5.0, a stage loading of 2.2, and cooled stator and rotor. Tests were carried out in a cold flow rig and as part of a gas generator facility. The performance of the turbine was assessed, through measurements of reaction, rotor exit conditions and efficiency, with and without airfoil cooling. The measured cooled efficiency in the cold rig was 79.9 percent, which, after correcting for temperature and measuring plane location, matched reasonably well the efficiency of 81.5 percent in the gas generator test. The effect of cooling, as measured in the cold rig, was to reduce the turbine efficiency by 2.1 percent. A part-load turbine map was obtained at 100, 110, and 118 percent design speed and at 3.9, 5.0, and 6.0 pressure ratio. The influence of speed and the limit load pattern for transonic turbines are discussed. The effect of the downstream measuring distance on the calculated efficiency was determined using three different locations. An efficiency drop of 3.2 percent was measured between the rotor trailing edge plane and a distance four chords downstream.